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[FM11] Woking FC - Efforts of a non-league virgin (career save)

Welcome to my first ever non-league effort!

After years of playing in leagues no lower than league 1, I've started to feel my games were lacking something...reading threads from the likes of Crouchaldinho has made me want to give it a go myself..so here goes, hopefully at least one person will bother to read it...

This save is with the patch version 11.3, with the latest database. The only league added is the EPL, all the way down. its also off of the large database with all UK and Irish and all Scottish players added. I've chosen to make it a little club to big club save, the only club I will leave Woking for would be Liverpool. But I have to win the Champions cup first of course...

Woking Football Club is a football club from in Woking, Surrey, England, formed in 1889. They are playing in the Conference South in the 2010-11 season.

Isthmian League years

In 1911 the club joined the Isthmian League, maintaining their place in the top division for 72 years and finishing as runners-up to Wycombe Wanderers in 1956-57. That achievement was eclipsed in the following season when, in front of a 71,000 crowd, the Cards beat Ilford 3-0 in the last FA Amateur Cup Final to be televised live. The club then went into decline, culminating in a first-ever relegation in 1982-83. By the end of the 1984-85 season the club had fallen further down the football ladder, being relegated to Division Two South of the Isthmian League. It was during that season that former player, Geoff Chapple, was appointed as manager. Although he was not able to save the club from relegation, Woking just missed out on promotion at the first attempt, the club clinched the Division Two South title in 1986-87. After two third place finishes in Division One, they were promoted back to the Premier Division at the end of the 1989-90 season.

The following season saw Woking embark on a "giant-killing" FA Cup run. Entering the competition at the Fourth Qualifying Round, they beat Conference opposition in the shape of Bath City, Kidderminster Harriers and Merthyr Tydfil to set up a Third Round tie away to West Bromwich Albion, then in the second level of English football. Recovering from being a goal behind at half time, Woking won 4-2, with a hat-trick from Tim Buzaglo and another goal from Terry Worsfold. The Fourth Round saw the Cards draw a home tie against Division One side Everton. The game was switched to Goodison Park where Woking lost to a Kevin Sheedy goal.

Conference years

Promotion to the Conference

Promotion to the Conference was achieved in 1991-92. The Isthmian League title was clinched in early April, with seven games still to be played, 18 points clear of nearest rivals, Enfield. Few of the championship winning side were retained for the higher division and Woking finished the season in eighth position. The following summer saw Chapple sign former Chelsea, Sunderland, Fulham and QPR winger, Clive Walker, from Brighton & Hove Albion and he was to prove the catalyst in the most successful period in the club's history. The FA Trophy was won in 1994 when Runcorn were beaten on a waterlogged Wembley pitch. Twelve months later Kidderminster Harriers were beaten as Woking became only the second club ever to win successive finals. Wembley was revisited in 1997 and the FA Trophy was won for the third time, this time against Dagenham & Redbridge. The Cards also achieved five successive top five finishes in the Conference, including being runners-up in 1994-95 and 1995-96 when they finished below Stevenage Borough again, which has become somewhat a habit ever since. The club also continued to enjoy national prominence in the FA Cup. Barnet were defeated in successive seasons following draws at their Underhill ground. In 1996-97 a run in the FA Cup saw the club beat Millwall, then top of Division Two, and Cambridge United, who were challenging for promotion from Division Three. The Third Round saw Woking draw 1-1 away to Premier League side Coventry City, thanks to a last minute equaliser from the Cards' Steve Thompson, but Coventry won the replay at Kingfield 2-1.

At the end of the 1996-97 campaign, having just clinched the FA Trophy for the third time, Geoff Chapple and his coach, Colin Lippiatt, left the club and joined Kingstonian. This was the beginning of a much less successful period for the club. John McGovern and then Brian McDermott were given the position of manager, but neither achieved anything greater than a mid-table finish. After McDermott, Colin Lippiatt returned but fared little better. He was replaced by his former boss as Geoff Chapple too came back to Woking. Lippiatt departed in January 2002 and Glenn Cockerill joined as Chapple's assistant. This season ended with the club just one place above the relegation places. In the meantime very significant events had taken place off the field. The downturn in the club's fortunes had led to a financial crisis. With the club facing administration or worse, local businessman and long-time fan Chris Ingrim came to the rescue, becoming Chairman in February 2002 with an aim of trying to increase the club's income and to secure its long-term financial stability.

Some good transfers here I feel, never having manged at this level, to be honest it took a while to really get to grips with what was considered decent at this level, Danny Williams was a fail signing really, what I thought would be ok really wasn't..you live and learn...the signings made afterwards are far better and a couple of them are 4 and a half stars / five star rated.

Staff wise, I sacked everyone then struggled to find a decent ass man Pat Gardner was finally given the job.

I manged to snap up Steve Whitehall as my physio, I'm sure you all know about him..other than that I'm allowed two coaches only, so went with a strong fitness coach in Ben Stork, and a good goalkeeping coach in Huw lloyd.

Note: Manager Jason Carpenter was witnessed bagging his head while softly weeping against his desk after learning we only get 5 subs at this level...and whose bright idea is it to play games with 2 days in-between??!!

Woking 3 - Dover 1 (Blue Square South)

Great to start with a win, just as easy as it looked, Dover had a man sent off after 27 minutes, even before that though we were all over them and deserved the win.

Scorers: Hammond, Cooke, King - Marsh

Chelmsford 2 - Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

An annoying one this, a very even game really, maybe we edged it, we conceded a stupid pen after only 4 minutes, then conceded straight after half time to make it 0-2...we attacked more and scored 2 goals in the 71st and 74th minutes but could not get a winner. Still, unbeaten and a good comback tbf...

Scorers: Rainford, Ake - McNerney, Gilroy

Dorchester 1 - Woking 4 (Blue Square South)

Much more like it, domination pure and simple. Nuff said.

Scorers: Devlin - Finn, Cooke, Gilroy x2

Woking 6 - Lewes 0

Cannot stress what a thrashing this was, just murdered them! 27 efforts on goal vs 4.

Scorers: Gilroy, Cooke, Doyle x2, Leech, Softic

Surely we can't score 6 twice???!!!.....

Woking 6 - Maidenhead 1

Just as big a thrashing as the lewes game, very happy!

Scorers: leech x3, Finn, Gilroy, Cooke - Akurang

Boreham Wood 2 - Woking 2

Boo! Back down to earth, nothing to separate us in this game, very evenly matched.

Shaun kelly, a right back rated as four and a half stars and Alan McDermott, a center back also rated as four and a half stars have signed to bolster the backline. Reiss Noel was released to balance the books.

Wage budget is now over the limit to the amount of £56! The youth squad may have to go....

It's my first ever FM game and I took over in november, having started unemployed, so I was a bit more tentative with the transfers. I overcame my hesitation in the second season and we went up as champions. I actually found the BSS quite easy with Woking. It's a big club in that league and you can attract top notch players for this level, as I see you have done.

I've been thinking about starting a career thread but haven't got around to it and now you've beaten me to it . I probably play too slow to do that kind of thing anyway. I like to watch every game in full and I only get one or two in of an evening.

How are you liking Gilroy ? He's not the most skillful player but he doesn't half put in a shift. I had a bit of a soft spot for him but I had to let him go this season. Couldn't hack it in League 2.

Adam Doyle is still playing in every game for me though. I'm starting to look to replace him now but what a player he has been for me. Ruled supreme in the air and scored 20+ goals over the last 3 seasons. He's one of the club's favorites.

yeah, he's a bit like Torres tbh, give him the ball and he will dribble through half the opposition and score! (Well, the old Torres...)

Gilroy is like you say, a pretty tidy player, i was going to go with Hammond and Leech, but Gilroy came in while Hammond needed a rest and scored 2...so he's been in ever since! I like to think of him as our Dirk kuyt...

Do you play Doyle as a CB? I must admit he hasn't played that much, we have a couple of higher rated lads at the back, Doyle has had a couple of games at FB Iirc....

Another comfortable win, Braintree came to kick us off of the park, they picked up plenty of bookings, but no red cards, which was irritating. Pretty football ftw!

Scorers: Cooke, Leech x2, Alaile o.g.

Godalming 0 - Woking 2 (FA Cup, 3rd Qual. Rnd)

Domination, with little reward. We continue on, which I'm not to bothered about tbh, I would rather just concentrate on the league.

Scorers: Leech x2

Staines 1 - Woking 1 (Blue Square South)

Yet another away draw, its driving me nuts! We were the better team and deserved the win but that's football.

Scorers: Butler - Softic

Woking 2 - Carshalton 1 (FA Cup, 4th Qual. Rnd)

The games are coming thick and fast this month, yet another FA Cup win, yet another tale of domination of both chances and possession with a close scoreline. On we go however...

Scorers: Leech, McDermott - Ledgister

Woking 3 - Eastleigh 0 (Blue Square South)

A thrashing, nice to see us turn dominance into goals AND a clean sheet!!!! The fixture list is starting to take its toll now, the players are really starting to get tired.

Scorers: Cooke x2, Hammond

Hampton & Richmond 1 - Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

We rode our luck in this one, lack of condition meant multiple rotation and even then, a lot of our players were knackered at about the 65min...Hampton and Richmond played a back five with a sweeper which caused us a couple of problems, their forward Kraig Rochester was a bit of a pain in the arse and the last ten minutes we struggled to hang on even though the stats were heavily in our favor. there is now a seven day gap until the next fixture thank Fowler!

Yeah. He's rubbish at the other positions he can supposedly play at but at CB he's been top class, even though his attributes aren't that special.

Like I said this is my first FM game and it took me a while to become aware of the possibilities in terms of transfers. I didn't know there are no transfer windows in non league for one thing, so I ended up playing with the players I found at the club for a lot longer than the typical FM player. To be honest I think it's a bit too easy to sign real quality players. I had to get used to that too. At the outset I was just happy to find anyone who was better than what I had, I didn't realize I could get A LOT better.

It's been tougher in League 2. Northampton snatched every player I made an offer for over the summer, including the loans I was trying to get from my parent club Fulham.

Well, the cup run is at an end, annoyingly we went in front very early and just couldn't hold on. A very close game tbh, they just had more quality at the end of the day.

After the game Danny Wilson really thrashed me, so we proceeded to have a night little running slagging match in the press. He's a marked man now, I won't rest until he's sacked!

Scorers: prutton, Ferry - leech

Bromley 2 - Woking 3 (Blue Square South)

This game was barking mad, great for the neutrals, crap for the managers! I had one heart attack, Eddie Newton must have had at least 2. We deserved a draw from this game at the most, we went in front, went two done so I pushed the boys forward and we scored twice in the last seven minutes.

They had more chances, we had more CCC. That was the difference I guess.

Scorers: Brierley, patterson – Leech, hurrell, Hammond

Woking 1 - Chelmsford 1 (Blue Square South)

Nothing special about this game, apart from it was against my local team! Kinda wierd...

We deserved to win, didn’t.

Scorers: Leech – Townsend

Woking 2 - Thurrock 0 (Blue Square South)

Another dominant win, even if it was a while until the goals went in.

Scorers: Cooke, Ademola

Woking 2 - Maidstone 3 (FA Trophy, 3rd Qual. Rnd)

Victory to go through to the next round. Can’t I just do a Utd and resign from cups this year?!

Scorers: Doyle, Leech

Woking 3 - Dartford 0 (Blue Square South)

A great win, another clean sheet which is great, we made up ground on the leaders after this win, Havant finally losing, to the team lying in 21st place!

Well, here we are...the month I dread on FM. A lot of games in a short space of time, very demanding on a squad, and it’s hard to keep results consistent. Well, for me anyway, you FM gods no doubt will disagree

Dover 2 - Woking 1 (Blue Square South)

Well, it had to happen eventually...one of those FM rules is that if you are on a long run you will lose against a team in the bottom three. And so it proved.

The mad thing is, they didn’t get lucky, they battered us. Go figure.

Martin Haynes, Dovers manager mouthed off in the press before the game, then after the game so as his job is at risk I am putting pressure on him every time they play. Me, hold a grudge? You bet.

Scores: Swann o.g., Wallis – King

Staines 2 – Woking 3 (FA Trophy, 1st. Rnd)

Another crazy game, we have 12 efforts on target and score 3, they had 2 on target and score 2. We dominated throughout. Ah well, a win is a win.

Scorers: Connolly, Brown – Gilroy, Leech x2

Woking 3 – St. Albans 0 (Blue Square South)

St. Albans recent good form comes to an end. They put up a good fight but we were just too strong in the end.

Steve castle is actually top of my ‘buddies’ list (Danny Wilson top of the haters list), and we shared some mutual support after the game. I look after my friends

Scorers: Smith o.g., leech, King

Well, this is the biggest game for us so far, against the league leaders ....do we have it in us to take the game and go top?

*Drumroll*

Woking 5 – Havant & Waterlooville 0 (Blue Square South)

You bet your ass we do!!!!

You can imagine how pleased I was with this, Havant came to kick us off the pitch, making a shocking amount of fouls, thankfully we kept our heads and our class won the game. It was an utter thrashing.

The weirdest thing was that Leech didn’t score...

Scores: Hammond x2, Softic, king, Finn

Maidenhead 2 – Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

Back down to earth, this game took place two days later and multiple rotations had to be made. It made for a very even game and we didn’t deserve to win really, so the draw was a fair result.

Annoyingly it means that Havant re-take the top of the table the bloody frauds...

We overcome the leaders again, a closer game than before, but yet again Havant try and kick us off of the pitch with a couple of our players taking heavy knocks, the worst news being that Leech has to go off injured!

After the game he has to go and see a specialist about his shin splints, he's predicted to be out for between 5 & 6 weeks.

In a weird quirk of the fixture list, I play Havant & Waterlooville again in three days time...

It's not so much a weird quirk as an attempt by FM to follow what happens in real life.

Basically, in Non-League football, the Boxing Day and New Year's Day fixtures are traditionally held against a local side. This is to aid with travel and to give Non-League clubs a good chance of getting a bumper gate during these two holidays. They play at home or away in the Boxing Day game and then play the reverse fixture on New Year's Day. For example, this season in real life my favourite club, St. Albans City, had local rivals Boreham Wood on their fixture list for Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

These fixtures are traditional and something most fans of Non-League clubs will look out for when the fixtures are announced and look forward to during the season. They are also important for the clubs financially, giving the opportunity for the clubs to 'get the punters in' as they say with some of the larger crowds of the season usually expected.

To be honest I really didn’t want the promotion. We made a stack of money (around £400K) in the BSP because our average crowd more than doubled but I was able to keep the wage bill down. Good cup runs and a play off final at Wembley helped a bit too. I was hoping for another season in the BSP to give us a chance of improving the facilities. Now in League 2 we get bigger crowds still, but not enough to offset the wage demands from the kind of players that I now need to attract. The wages themselves aren’t that bad, but players want better bonuses at this level. At best I’m going to break even this season, which leaves no room to make the necessary improvements. We need a better youth setup and scouting system as I’m finding it quite hard to find good players now.
“Unfortunately”, 15 games in and we’re sitting top again… I didn’t want to go up to League 2, let alone League 1. As such, I’m starting to look to leave the club. The Luton and Millwall jobs have come up (when I started this save I toyed with the idea of sticking to the London area, but I’m not set on it). I wasn’t named among the likely candidates for either job though and I didn’t want to upset the good vibe at Woking. So I’ll probably stay until the end of the season, hopefully with another promotion under my belt. I’m hoping that will be enough to land a job with an established Championship or League 1 side.

I normally don't like to sign players who only have one or two years left in them but he was exactly what I needed : good mentality and ability at set plays. I wouldn't be where I am without him. Him and Doyle have proved a lethal combination from corners, good for 10 goals a season. He then adds another 10 with belters from outside the box. And he always does it when we need it most. There were so many games where I had already settled for a draw and he'd pop up and score one of his screamers. He did it at Wembley too to win the play off final and send us into the league.
He was 34 by then and I was really hoping he would retire from playing after that cause his legs had gone completely and I finally wanted to replace him. It would have been a good high to go out on. But he didn't retire which is just as well cause I couldn't actually find a replacement. I've finally managed to sign Gary Taylor-Fletcher (of Blackpool fame) now after a tip off from my assistant manager but he can't play until january so MBW is still out there doing his thing. He's a player/coach now, has great coaching ability too. He only stays on the pitch for 60 minutes each game but so far he's got 6 goals and 5 assists in 15 games.

Taylor-Fletcher ought to be good though. He's got a double barrel name and he's 32, can't go wrong !

I don't want to keep mucking up your thread but I just had to tell you about this.

I've just had the first ever derby with Aldershot. I didn't even realize we were in the same league now. Crowd of over 5,000 packed into the Kingfield. Evening kick-off, rain falling in sheets through the floodlights. Fifteen minutes in my best striker is stretchered off. I've only got one forward left in the squad, 18 year old Ryan Jerome, born and bred Woking lad. First half is a tight affair. We just about edge the possession but our whole forward line has been off colour of late and we can't score. And sure enough, on the stroke of half time Aldershot get a corner and score a freak goal off it (we clear the corner but it comes back in the form of a half-shot, half-cross that's creeping into the top corner. Goalie palms it away straight into the feet of the only Aldershot player left in the box...). A bad result had been coming for us. We only scraped a win by the smallest of margins at Yeovil last week, so I think 'Here we go, but does it have to be at home against Aldershot ?'.

Roll on the second half. Two minutes in Jimmy Keohane is clean through with only the goalkeeper to beat. He's fluffed the last umpteen chances. He fires it at the bottom corner, it hits the post, hits the keeper, hits the post again, bobbles along the line and... IN ! 1 - 1.

67th minute. We've got another player clean through and it's none other than Ryan Jerome. The crowd are going mental but can he keep his cool ? YES, it's in ! We've turned it around ! 2 - 1.

70th minute. Corner for Woking. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (you already know him) floats it in and centre back Paul Wilson (another 18 year old who came in at half time with a rating of 5.9) powers a header inside the near post. Aldershot have a player on the line but it just creeps in between his leg and the post. 3 - 1.

90th minute. Northern Ireland bad boy Rory Patterson (think Joey Barton but with more tattoos), who's been rubbish all season, goes down in the box. Penalty. Our regular penalty taker MBW has long since hit the showers and to my horror Rory steps up to take it himself... and slams it in the top corner. 4 - 1.

Massive possession for us and better the chances. More comfortable than it looked really.

Scorers: O’Conner

Braintree 1 – Woking 4 (Blue Square South)

A mad game, not much of a difference regarding chances, our finishing was much better.

Scorers: Marks – Gilroy, Softic, Cooke, Turnball

Woking 1 – Dorchester 1 (Blue Square South)

Utter domination, I have no idea why we didn’t win this. Very angry about it. Grrrr...

Scorers: Gilroy – Coutts

Woking 1 – Crawley 0 (FA Trophy 3rd Rnd.)

They had far more chances than we did, a bit of a smash and grab really. On we go...

Scorers: Gilroy

Bishops Stortford 1 – Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

Very close game stats wise, we’re pushing our luck at times this season. Thank god we have a decent defence.

Scorers: Harris – Hammond, Hogarth o.g.

Woking 1 – Staines 1 (Blue Square South)

Livid. We thrashed them and yet didn’t add to the score line and they score from a set piece in the 90th minute. Its game like this you could live to regret at the end of the season.
The one piece of good news is that Leech is fit again after 5 weeks out and he won the pen that Gilroy scored. Good to have him back.

Scorers: Gilroy – Sterling

Lewes 1 – Woking 5 (Blue Square South)

We battered them. This game showed how much we have missed Leech, we have been winning without maybe getting the scores that we deserve. Hopefully his return will kick our season on.

Scorers: Leech x3, Softic, Hammond

Woking 0 – Hayes and Yeading 1 (FA Trophy 4th Rnd.)

Our keeper scored a stupid own goal after only 4 minutes and we couldn’t get past them. This was our 14th game in two months and it really is starting to get to the squad. Quite glad to be out of the competition really, now we can concentrate on the league.

My only other concern is morale has taken a bit of a hit after this game, so I have to be careful in the next game...

More rubbish. We were 2 up within 5 minutes. 5 MINUTES!!!!! Another lead we just threw away. We were far superior and just threw it away. It makes me want to smash my head against the desk.
What made it worse is the fact that Leech was taken out in this game and will be out for the rest of the season. FML!

Scorers: O’Toole, King – Softic, Cooke

Woking 2 – Hampton and Richmond 0 (Blue Square South)

Much better, Hampton had a player sent of fairly early but we were one up already by then, a clean sheet also and we are back on track.
Thank god.

Scorers: Gilroy, Hammond

Woking 2 – Bromley 1 (Blue Square South)

This was a very even game. Still, we got the win, which is the important thing.
The limp over the finish line continues.

Scorers: Gilroy, Ademola – Brierley

Eastleigh 1 – Woking 3 (Blue Square South)

I’m tired of saying this myself, ANOTHER close game, our finishing was better. I’m just glad the players filling in for Leech are coming up with the goods.

Welling gave us a good game but the finishing that has served us well all season saw us win comfortably.

Scorers: Kelly, Ademola, Cooke

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

This win makes us Champions, with plenty of games to go! Lets finish the season in style

Dartford 1 – Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

Cruise control ON!

A pretty close game, we did enough to win. Not really surprised that the incentive to put in 100% has left the squad.

Scorers: Shinn – Leech, Softic

Woking 2 – Bishop’s Stortford 0 (Blue Square South)

This game saw us try out the 4-2-3-1 for the first time, and it was certainly effective. 17 efforts on goal for us, ZERO for the opposition.
Another noteable fact was the return of Leech far earlier than was predicted by our medical staff.

Scorers: Leech, McDermott

Farnborough 2 – Woking 3 (Blue Square South)

Another run out for the 4-2-3-1. A great game, lots of chances for both sides, respect to Farnborough, they had a go at us.
This game also marked the debut of Rossi. A scoring debut!

Scorers: McCann, McMahon – Rossi, Leech, Hammond

Woking 1 – Weston-super-Mare 0 (Blue Square South)

back to the 4-4-2 for this game, Rossi is yet to reach peak fitness. A good win, nothing really special about it.

Scorers: Hammond

Ebbsfleet 1 – Woking 2 (Blue Square South)

A crazy game, we dominated, scored in the 82nd minute, they equalised on the 86th, we found a winnwer in the last minute. A good finish to the season!!!!!!

I've just beaten Burton 3-1 to clinch the League 2 title, making it 3 promotions on the trot, 2 as champions.

We crawled over the line rather than stormed it though. Dear oh dear did we bottle it. The last 10 matches or so of the season were sheer torture. We were incredibly lucky that the chasing pack were also struggling, with the team in second place changing every week.

I'll probably be leaving Woking now. I really don't fancy taking on League 1 with such a small club. I had a hard enough time finding players good enough for League 2 who were willing to sign for us. The Bournemouth manager looks to be on his way out and I might try for that job. I'd like to stay in the south and they were our parent club for a season, so there's a bit of a link there.

I am somewhat torn. I’ve brought in almost every player that’s at the club now and it’s going to be a wrench to leave them behind. They’re a great bunch of lads and we’ve sure had a fantastic time.

It looks like the board don’t want Woking to be made great though. We made it through to the 4th round of the FA Cup and had a windfall tie at Villa Park (led them 1-0 for about an hour too…) so we’ve got over £ 1m sitting in the bank now. They won’t improve the youth facilities and they won’t allow a wider scouting range. Where am I supposed to get the better players we need from ?

Plus I’d like to make a little money myself. I’m not out to get filthy rich but 4 years at Woking have only earned me £ 90k. I could have stuck with my old job and done better than that.

Wheels have come off of the season. My best three strikers have all got long term injuries and the form has crashed...got a nightmare injury list full stop tbh...fixture list didn't help, got to the FA trphy semi's, with a couple of extra time replays along the way, too much rotation of a knackered squad hasn't helped I'm sure.

The defence isn't good enough to prop the team up and luton look to be about to win the league..looks like play offs :/

Sgt, what tactics do you use? Really not convinced by the 442 anymore, just not solid enough.

Up front I have 2 poachers (the outside 2) and an advanced forward (the middle one). The poachers are actually AMs with good goal scoring ability. They play as wingers but with a lot of emphasis on coming inside and trying to score (I didn't fiddle with anything to get this out of them, they just do it naturally). Crosses from out wide were very ineffective for me and with this setup they either cut inside at the 18 yard line and try to shoot or if they get to the byline they get into the box first and then cut it back, which has worked a lot better for me.

In midfield I have 3 MCs, the outside ones on attack and the middle one on defend.

Defense is a bog standard flat back 4 with no frills out and out defenders, although I do like my fullbacks to get forward.

I play a very attacking style, both home and away. I use a high defensive line and closing down all over the pitch. If it's a tight game I'll try to get a 2 goal lead and then drop deeper and switch to countering. If we're outplaying the opposition I just leave them to it.

It's not without risk. We do get hit on the counter and I have to use all my substitutions to replace tired legs.

Phew...well we did it, via the play offs...the final was an epic 5-3 win against crewe which was great for the neutrals...

The second half of the season was terrible, we lost three of our strikers to injuries so I had to go 451. As you can expect we couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo and we suffered an extra 5 defeats.Thankfully with the return of some of our better players form picked up when it needed to, including beating luton with three games to go but it was too little too late. Also to blame was the fixture list...at least two games a week for the last three months took its toll.

Table:

Other news:

Somehow I won manager of the year, no idea how, at least half of the other managers in the league trash talked me every chance they got, which of course I rreturned tenfold!

Also Leech won the division golden boot, scoring 50 goals in all competitions

95 points would handily win you the championship most seasons, so a bit unlucky I think.

My Bournemouth move fell through because I still had a month left on my contract and they didn't want to pay the compensation . I didn't want to become unemployed so ended up accepting Woking's third offer. Frantically trying to put together a team for League 1 now.

Yeah, Luton were pretty much relentless in the end but I can't help but wonder how the season could have gone if everyone were fit...

Good luck with league 1, I take it you are planning to jump ship at the nearest job offer or are you just going to see how it works out?

Also forgot to note that we finished up with a £300k profit, which was very nice indeed.

I'm not expecting any job offers. Haven't had one so far and despite another championship and manager of the year award my reputation is still regional. I'm reluctant to apply for jobs myself once the season has started. I like to finish what I've started.

I managed to win League 2 with only 86 points. Should be a doddle for you. 3 automatic promotion places too.

Six in, seven out..with a wage budget of just over 10k and with a lot of contracts that needed renewing a clear out was never on the cards.

Notable ins:

Vincent Pericard comes in on a free, hopefully with his power he will make a good deep lying forward.
Scott Wilson comes in on loan from our parent club for another year.
Other than that a couple of decent new CM’s and a new LB.

Notable outs:

Michael Gash lived up to his name and after only six months at the club is moved out on a free.
Everyone else was either pants or shipped out to balance the wages bill.

August and September update:

Well, due to getting carried away again I have 2 months worth of updates. I’m solely looking to stay up this season, if we achieve better than that it will be a bonus. Still, as Sgt.kelly pointed out there are three automatic promotion places so you never know...

So, without further delay...

Hartlepool 1 - Woking 0 (npower League 2)

Well, what a great start. We started the game using a 4-3-1-2 formation, hartlepool lining up in a 3-4-1-2. Despite it being a close game the majority of our chance were from range and we just couldn’t level the score.
And Leech goes off injured.

This could be a long season...

Scorers: Brown

Woking 0 - Cardiff 3 (league Cup 1st Rnd)

One word sums this up. Ouch. We were totally ripped apart by Cardiff, which probably wouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Chopra ran riot. Oh well..

Scorers: Keinan, Chopra x2

Woking 3 – Barnet 0 (npower League 2)

Much better. We bossed this and didn’t give them a sniff. Again we used the 4-3-1-2 and Scott Wilson had a great game.

Scorers: Wilson x3

Stockport 3 - Woking 2 (npower League 2)

A very annoying game. They had more chances, we had the better chances. Our forwards had a bit of an off day when one on one with the keeper. 3rd defeat in 4. Woohoo!

I had a short stint with Swindon to kick the tires before I started my Woking save and Pericard was an absolute donkey. You've brought him down a level of course, be interesting to see how he performs.

Can't believe you let Adam Doyle go. I've finally replaced him now but letting him go is going to be heartbreak. I hope somebody snaps him up and he doesn't end up retiring.

Yes, oh dear just about sums it up tbh. For somebody with 16 strength he shows a shocking lack of ability to hold up a ball. I literally cannot work him out, he's crap in a partnership and crap in a solo role. One goal in five starts and five sub appearances sums it up tbh.

I wouldn't mind but Wilson has 10 in 10 and the other strikers seem to be phoning it in atm..I'm swapping partnerships like crazy to try and get some chemistry going.

League two is barmy, its a very forgiving league, my form is a bit crap but nobody is really pushing at the top.

League two is barmy, its a very forgiving league, my form is a bit crap but nobody is really pushing at the top.

I've only played one game but League 1 may be where the magic wears off. So far it has felt like a big jump. The level of players you need won't join you with your non-league facilities (at least I'm hoping that's what it is). I've had to settle for players who are fairly mediocre for this league and they still cost me 30 to 50k. I managed to replace most of the defense and midfield but the front line is the same as last season. Don't think we'll be storming the league this year but I'm hoping to get safe.

Nice work. Me and my dad follow Woking in real life, but unfortunately can't attend too often, but very nice to see a 3-0 victory over the Shots.

Thank you sir, yes the fans did enjoy that little result

Originally Posted by Sgt Kelly

I've only played one game but League 1 may be where the magic wears off. So far it has felt like a big jump. The level of players you need won't join you with your non-league facilities (at least I'm hoping that's what it is). I've had to settle for players who are fairly mediocre for this league and they still cost me 30 to 50k. I managed to replace most of the defense and midfield but the front line is the same as last season. Don't think we'll be storming the league this year but I'm hoping to get safe.

Still, league 1 is a fine achievement...if I am lucky enough to get there i expect to be stuck in that league for a while.

Back down to earth a little bit, an even game but several players had off days, most noticeably Alan McDermott who decided to get himself sent off via a straight red in the 59th minute. We held onto the lead, and then blew it as they got a leveller in the 90th minute.

Water bottle thrown.

Scorers: Wilson – Noel-Williams

Dag & Red 1 - Woking 2 (npower League 2)

another red card! This time Rossi after a mere 35 minutes! Thankfully we were already ahead and added another before half time. In the second half hey absolutely battered us and they got one back, but we didn’t really deserve to win this one. Cooke got an injury.

Scorers: Marshall – Wilson, Smylie

Brighton 2 - Woking 0 (Johnstones Paint Trophy S 2nd Rnd)

Utter crap. We didn’t turn up and Brighton took full advantage. Notable only for the Debut of one of last year’s crop of youth players, Michael Martin (YP2) in place of Cooke. Other than that, dog poo.

The fans moaned about this one, probably rightly.

Scorers: Murray, Baz

Woking 3 – Cheltenham 1 (npower League 2)

Closer than the scoreline suggested, our finishing saw us through in the end. Another game that showed the last of domination from the 4-4-2...

Scorers: Osborne o.g., Softic, Wilson - Goulding

Lincoln 2 - Woking 2 (npower League 2)

My god...we got absolutely BATTERED. I just cannot explain how the hell we got a point from this game. We scored in the 80th and 84th minutes. Daylight robbery.
Getting fed up with the 4-4-2 again, just not solid enough.

Scorers: Scott, Corcoran – McDermott, Buari

Woking 0 – Morecambe 1 (npower League 2)

Karma kicks our ass. We had twice the chances they did but we couldn’t get the equaliser. Not happy.

The Morecambe game was the last straw, the 4-4-2 gets binned and the 4-5-1/4-3-3 from last season comes back in. Just call me the tinkerman...

Shrewsbury 1 - Woking 2 (npower League 2)

A deserved win, a good start for the new formation. Much more solid. Nuff said.

Scores: Thackray – Smylie, King

Rochdale 0 - Woking 1 (npower League 2)

Bit lucky this one, but the players are still getting 100% familiar with the new formation and it’s already showing solidity that the 4-4-2 didn’t. A nice clean sheet.

Scorers: Buari

Woking 1 – Hartlepool 0 (FA Cup 1st Rnd)

This game was noticeable for three things:
1) We battered them, I mean REALLY battered them
2) Hartlepool were the most thuggish team I have seen on FM for years..We conceded 5 fouls, they conceded 18. They had a man sent off for two yellow cards and it was a major surprise they only picked up a further two yellows.
3) Another clean sheet for us! Love it.

Scorers: Smylie

Woking 3 – Stevenage 0 (npower League 2)

This could have been a cricket score, our woeful finishing kept it respectable. Another clean sheet!
Youth product Michael Martin score his first ever goal for the club!

Scorers: Martin, King, Hamil o.g.

Woking 4 – Accrington 0 (npower League 2)

Close game chances wise, our attack took their chances and the defence is showing solidity. Another clean sheet. I am more than happy with the 4-5-1/4-3-3.

Scorers: Smylie, Leech, McDermott, moult (pen)

Macclesfield 0 - Woking 2 (npower League 2)

Another good win, our fifth clean sheet in a row! Also another team that tried to kick us off of the pitch. They had four players booked, should have been more tbh.

Scorers: Smylie, King

Manager of the month for November:

I won the award, Northampton’s Ian Sampson comes second, and Leyton orient’s Craig Short comes third.

A good start to the month, a close game really but our finishing was awesome. A nice hattrick from Softic.

Scorers: Softic x3, Leech

Woking 1 – Stockport 1 (npower League 2)

Another close game, neither team deserved to win this. Our defenders seem to be taking it in turns to be crap.

Scorers: Leech - Elding

With the transfer window open I decided to take a chance on signing SAMMY MORROW. He will take up the deep lying forward role alongside Leech.

Gillingham 1 - Woking 3 (npower League 2)

A well deserved win here, we wanted it more and we got the result. Morrow marked his debut with a goal.

Scorers: Agdsestein – Morrow, Moult, Martin

Woking 3 – Torquay 1 (npower League 2)

Another good win, we battered them and deserved the 3 points.

Scorers: McDermott x2, Softic – Kuduzovic

Oxford 3 – Woking 2 (npower League 2)

Absolute dog poo. One of those games when everything they hit ended up in the net. We found ourselves 3 down, thenhit 2 lat goals in replied when we went for it. Time ran out before we could get a third, but we didn’t reeally deserve a point.

Water bottle thrown.

Scorers: McAlister, Ajose, Deering – McDermott, Leech

Woking 5 – Luton 0 (npower League 2)

The players redeem themselves after I put a rocket up them and demanded a win. We battered them, created a host of chances and put quite a few of them away.
Much happier.

Scorers: Softic, Morrow x2, Rossi, Cooke

Manager of the month for January:

Oxford United’s Andy Scott came first , I came second, and Morecambe’s Sammy McIlroy comes third.

Yeah, signing Morrow has had a positive effect, He has the PPM's 'plays with back to goal' and 'trys through balls often' so I really intended for him to set Leech up, however, he has 4 goals in 5, so he clearly knows where the goal is himself!

Still just playing attacking football really, its getting the wins but I don't know how such a style will cope with league 1...I am rubbish at playing more defensive football

I haven't had much time to play lately (I make a point of watching every game in full, which doesn't help...).

I haven't changed my tactics and so far my record is W2 D1 L4 in League One.

Do you have any house rules on signing players ? I don't use free player search. Only sign scouted and recommended players. I had 3 scouts working full tilt over the summer but I basically needed a whole new team so I had to set priorities. Decided the front line was least in need of improvement and it shows : really struggling to score.

Ah I see...I always play on key highlights, just makes it quicker. It still takes me at least a week to get through a season, unlike the likes of Dafuge, who churn through a season a day

No house rules tbh, my scouts are pretty crap, if I left it to them i would probably not be signing anybody. I do manualy search, but dont use any editors. Apart from that, the only thing i did do was set past experience as 'semi pro' instead of 'sunday league'.

Very happy with how this season went, I really didn’t think we would get promoted at the first attempt, let alone win the whole thing! Still, a lot of work needs to be done now, the backroom staff need an overhaul, and key positions of the team need to be sorted out.

I’m delighted to have won the manager of the year award for npower league 2.

I also find myself FINALLY listed as one of the clubs favoured personnel HERE but gods knows what you have to do to be an icon...

Also, the club offered me another 1 year contract extension which I signed of course, this one for the princey sum of £1000 per week. I'm also untouchable apparently. Still no job offers at all, not that I would accept...